AI is not just a feature, it's a new fabric for creation; AI puts CIOs in the spotlight; is Microsoft outsourcing its AI strategy? AI startups relocate teams from China

The war for AI talent is heating up; AI is eating the world; the UK might see its first AI MP; the US vs rest of world battle for AI supremacy; Apple Intelligence takes center stage at WWDC

Jun 14, 2024

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For years, Apple has perfected the art of making technology accessible to the point of it becoming invisible—if you’re using an iPhone or a Mac, everything just works. They offered a similar vision for AI at WWDC this week, showing how Apple Intelligence will improve apps and OS features in small yet meaningful ways.

Or, to quote The Information’s Jessica Lessin:

Digesting the Apple news, I think this may go down as the day that the world realizes AI isn’t a whole new class of product. It is an amazing leap forward in features that can be powerfully unlocked by companies with the right kind of structured data. What do you think?

While I understand why Mrs Lessin or Wired’s Will Knight would think this way, I argue that AI is not merely a new feature or product: it will rapidly become a fundamental new fabric for creation, just as the internet or cloud computing.

We shouldn’t judge AI by what we see today: features layered onto existing products and services. Instead, we should treat large language models, computer vision, generative AI and other capabilities as stops on a journey to a central platform on which we will build something entirely new.

Just as we shifted from building PC software to cloud-native apps, or went from building websites to creating mobile apps, we're now entering an AI-native era. AI won't be an incremental feature, but the core fabric for building tailored experiences, products and platforms across every domain.

For companies and developers, this means fundamentally rethinking their approach. You can't just sprinkle some AI onto an existing offering. You need to rebuild from the ground up with an AI platform in mind. This AI shift will be as dramatic as past platform transitions, requiring new skills, new architectures, and new business models.

Those who recognize AI as a core platform for building rather than just as a hyped feature will be the ones to define the next era of innovation.

And now, here are this week’s news:

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Our top news picks for the week - your essential reading from the world of AI

Fortune: How Amazon blew Alexa’s shot to dominate AI, according to more than a dozen employees who worked on it
The Guardian: Apple debuts new ‘Apple Intelligence’ AI features at WWDC 2024
The Economist: The war for AI talent is heating up
Fortune: Adapt or die: Is the future bright for business amidst the AI boom?
WSJ: AI Puts CIOs in the Spotlight, Right Next to the CEO
The Atlantic: This Is What It Looks Like When AI Eats the World
CNBC: Microsoft is outsourcing its best AI, tech CEO says — and that’s good news for Google
The Guardian: Brighton general election candidate aims to be UK’s first ‘AI MP’
The Information: How the World Plans to Stop American AI Domination
Wired: AI Tools Are Secretly Training on Real Images of Children
The Information: American AI Startups Relocate China-Based Engineers

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AI in the wild: how artificial intelligence is used across industry, from the internet, social media, and retail to transportation, healthcare, banking, and more

Bloomberg: The AI Revolution Comes for Farmers Growing a Third of Our Food
Reuters: Japan's beloved cats get healthcare help from AI
Fortune: These AI-enabled recycling robots are helping businesses be more sustainable
WSJ: Stressing Over Your Next Home Renovation Project? Let AI Handle It.
The Verge: Ancestry.com is using AI to make a searchable database for Black family trees
The Verge: Yahoo Mail is adding more AI to simplify desktop email
MIT Technology Review: What using artificial intelligence to help monitor surgery can teach us
Business Insider: A cloud-storage company is using AI to save employees weeks of cybersecurity-threat work
BBC: Phone and seat belt offenders to be targeted by AI
The Guardian: Groundbreaking AI heart attack scans could soon be rolled out across UK
Reuters: Morgan Stanley CEO says AI could save financial advisers 10-15 hours a week
New York Times: Every Elephant Has Its Own Name, Study Suggests

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